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Blog Exercises: Bye Bye to Dumb Drafts

November 4, 2013 – 4:52 am

Demian Farnworth of Copyblogger wrote a brilliant article, “5 1/2 Reasons You Should Kill a Draft Blog Post. It’s today’s blog exercise. In summary, Demian’s tips are: The idea sounds bad to you days later. It’s likely to create controversy you don’t want. It looks like something you wrote last year. It looks like stolen […]

By Lorelle VanFossen | Posted in Blog Exercises, Blogging, blogging tips, Writing | Tags: bad ideas, blog exercises, blog writing, blogging tips, content, content development, content strategies, draft posts, drafts, editing, posts, web writing, worst mistakes, writing for the web, writing tips | Leave a Comment

Blog Exercises: A Link List Post to Dazzle Readers

October 31, 2013 – 2:12 pm

In blog exercises on making lists and making your lists pretty, we worked on the links, understanding how they work and formatting your styles. In this blog exercise, I want to focus on the content within those links, the real reason people love those link lists. I’d like to cite my friends at Daily Blog […]

By Lorelle VanFossen | Posted in Blog Exercises, Blogging, blogging tips, Writing | Tags: blog content, blog exercises, blogging tips, content, how to create a list, link lists, link posts, linking, links, lists, publishing tips, trackbacks, web writing, Writing, writing for the web, writing tips | Comments (10)

Blog Exercises: Push Your Writing Forward

October 31, 2013 – 4:49 am

Blogging is about writing. Let’s not forget that. And now is the time to test your writing skills. The Tomorrow Project by The Society for Science and the Public is promoting contest for a science fiction story about the kind of future you want to live in when the future comes to call. They are […]

By Lorelle VanFossen | Posted in Blog Exercises, Blogging, blogging tips, Writing | Tags: blog exercises, blogging, blogging tips, how to blog, how to write, nanowrimo, national novel writing month, self-assignments, self-improvement, wordpress.com, Writing, writing challenges, writing competitions, writing contests, writing for the web | Comments (3)

Blog Exercises: Current Events September

September 18, 2013 – 4:29 am

It’s time to blog the news and current events for September in our Blog Exercises. This month, I want you to dig deeper into the news, targeting your specific industry and niche. With several months of blogging the news once a month under your belt, you should have set up some good resources in your […]

By Lorelle VanFossen | Posted in Blog Exercises, Blogging, blogging tips, Writing | Tags: blog exercises, blog writing, blogging tips, current events, how to blog, news, reference articles, references, resource articles, resources, sources, tips, web writing, writing for the web | Comments (1)

Blog Exercises: Top X Tips – The Numbered Post

September 16, 2013 – 4:15 am

One of the traditions in blogging is the numbered list post. You’ve seen them. “The Top Ten Software Programs.” “9 Things to Do with Clay.” “The Best 99 WordPress Tips of All Time.” “Top 13 Cities to Attend a WordCamp.” “Seven Ways to Find Love.” Numbered post titles and topics work. Want proof? I did […]

By Lorelle VanFossen | Posted in Blog Exercises, Blogging, blogging tips, Writing | Tags: blog exercises, blogging, blogging tips, list posts, lists, numbered posts, top ten lists, web writing, writing for the web | Comments (12)

Blog Exercises: Blog Your Favorite Song

September 11, 2013 – 4:01 am

It all began the day I found That from my window I could only see A piece of sky. I stepped outside and looked around. I never dreamed it was so wide Or even half as high. The time had come to try my wings And even though it seemed at any moment I could […]

By Lorelle VanFossen | Posted in Blog Exercises, Blogging, blogging tips, Writing | Tags: blog exercises, blogging prompt, emotions, favorite song, inspiration, motivation, music, prompts, song, stories, storytelling, web writing, Writing, writing for the web, writing prompt | Comments (9)

Blog Exercises: What I Did This Summer

September 10, 2013 – 4:36 am

It’s September and many schools have started classes all over the world. Two weeks ago, I moved boxes from long-term storage out into my studio to start sorting through them, then deadlines and distracts won my attention, and there they sit, staring at me. Guilting me. With five minutes to wait for a program to […]

By Lorelle VanFossen | Posted in Blog Exercises, Blogging, blogging tips, Writing | Tags: adventures, blog exercises, blog the past, blogging prompts, childhood, memoir, memories, prompts, school, school years, stories, storytelling, summer stories, vacation, what i did this summer, Writing, writing for the web, writing prompts | Leave a Comment

Blog Exercises: September Random Editing Day

September 9, 2013 – 9:24 pm

It is September and the number is now up to 9 posts to edit on our monthly Random Editing Day exercises. Each month in the Blog Exercises series, I challenge you to edit random published posts on your blog, adding one for every month of the year. This month is nine posts. You can do […]

By Lorelle VanFossen | Posted in Blog Exercises, Blogging, blogging tips, Writing | Tags: blog exercises, content, definitions, edit, industry jargon, industry terms, jargon, random editing day, random edits, school, school year, terminology, web writing, what does that mean, Writing, writing for the web | Comments (3)

Blog Exercises: Debate Ethics

September 6, 2013 – 4:02 am

A premie baby is causing debates and controversy about medical research projects. A debate on plant ethics questions over the humane treatment of plants opposes yet is related to the debate on ethical treatment of animals as food sources. Advanced research on stem cells and human cloning is debatable on all sides, especially when news […]

By Lorelle VanFossen | Posted in Blog Exercises, Blogging, blogging tips, Writing | Tags: audience, blog exercises, blog struggles, blogger ethics, blogging, blogging prompts, blogging tips, code of ethics, community, conspiracy, controversy, debate, debates, ethical issues, ethics, moral values, morals, perspective, prompt, stories, wordpress community, writing for the web, writing prompt, writing tips | Comments (14)

Blog Exercises: August Summary

August 30, 2013 – 1:31 pm

August is done, and so is the summer for most of the world north of the equator. Summer is on its way down under. This is the end of eight months of celebrating the 10th Anniversary of WordPress with a year of non-stop blogging about blogging, focused on using WordPress as your publishing platform. In […]

By Lorelle VanFossen | Posted in Blog Exercises, Blogging, blogging tips | Tags: blog exercises, blog exercises monthly, blogging, blogging tips, how to blog, web writing, writing for the web | Comments (3)

Blog Exercises: Who Do Others Think You Are?

August 26, 2013 – 4:59 am

Today’s blog exercise was inspired by Kathy Holmes in her post, “Who are you today?” Lorelle’s “What Makes You Special?” blog exercise links to “Who the Hell Are You?” and both got me to thinking, not only about who I am, but who I am today and who people perceive me to be. Some people […]

By Lorelle VanFossen | Posted in Blog Exercises, Blogging, blogging tips, Writing | Tags: about, bio, blog exercises, blogging tips, character, identity, labels, persona, personality, titles, web writing, who are you, writing for the web | Comments (11)

Blog Exercises: I Can Wish It Away But…

August 26, 2013 – 4:54 am

“I can wish it away but I can’t change it.” Those words jumped out of the radio. This was a politician talking about international trade regulations and laws in my state. It’s true that any governing body is ruled by other governing bodies in this bureaucratic world. It got me thinking about what I could […]

By Lorelle VanFossen | Posted in Blog Exercises, Blogging, blogging tips, Writing | Tags: blog exercises, blogging prompts, change, change the world, inspiration, make a wish, motivation, wish it away, wishes, Writing, writing for the web, writing prompts | Leave a Comment

Blog Exercises: The Art of List Making

August 20, 2013 – 4:43 am

Today’s blog exercise is part two on how to make a list. In “Weekly Link Roundups” and “Making Lists” blog exercises I covered some basics of how to make a list. This blog exercise will take these exercises further to help you create interesting lists in your blog posts that pull the reader through your […]

By Lorelle VanFossen | Posted in Blog Exercises, Blogging, blogging tips, WordPress, WordPress Tips, Writing | Tags: blog exercises, blogging tips, bold lists, bullet lists, bullets, css, graphic lists, heading lists, html, html lists, list formats, lists, making lists, numbered lists, numbers, titled lists, Web Design, web writing, wordpress, WordPress Themes, WordPress Tips, Writing, writing for the web | Comments (8)

Blog Exercises: Things I Wish I Knew When I Started

August 19, 2013 – 4:11 am

“9 Things I Wish I Knew When I Started.” “6 Things You Need to Know Before You Begin.” “The 10 Lessons You Need to Know Before You Take that First Step.” “What I Wish I Knew Before I Knew.” These titles show up in my feed reader on a regular basis. In this blog exercise, […]

By Lorelle VanFossen | Posted in Blog Exercises, Blogging, blogging tips, Writing | Tags: autobiography, blog exercises, blog prompts, blogging prompts, character, education, educator, experience, expert, history, how to blog, lessons learned, mentor, personal experience, personality, prompt, sharing, teacher, web writing, what I know, Writing, writing for the web, writing prompts | Comments (5)

Blog Exercises: I Don’t Have Any Comments

August 16, 2013 – 4:02 am

I hear this complaint frequently from new and long time bloggers. “I don’t have any comments. How can I get more comments?” First of all, let me explain something and I want you to read closely. You don’t want comments. Yes, that’s right. You do not want comments. At least not comments from anyone. If […]

By Lorelle VanFossen | Posted in Blog Exercises, Blogging, blogging tips | Tags: audience, blog conversation, blog exercises, comment box, comment spam, comments, conversation, demographics, dialog, interactivity, social web, web writing, writing for the web, writing for your audience | Comments (11)